Paranoia
by JonathanDP81
Summary: Dive is terrified of Wildwing. Is he going mad?
1. Welcome Home (Sanitarium)

Disclaimers: The Mighty Ducks and all related characters are the property of Walt Disney. No copyright infringement is intended. No profit is being made. The songs "Welcome Home (Sanitarium)" and "Synchronicity 1" belong to Metallica and The Police, respectively.

This story and all original characters and concepts are the property of the author except for McBill, which is the property of Majik of Chaos Central (.)

To understand parts of this story I recommend you first read Majik's "Giving Thanks" (.)

****

The following is rated PG for violence and discussion of child abuse.

Paranoia

A Mighty Ducks: The Animated Series Fanfic

By JonathanDP81

Chapter One: Welcome Home (Sanitarium)

__

Build my fear of what's out there  
and cannot breathe the open air  
Whisper things into my brain  
assuring me that I'm insane  
They think our heads are in their hands  
but violent use brings violent plans  
Keep him tied, it makes him well  
he's getting better, can't you tell?

The blasting sounds of lasers and puck launchers echoed throughout the large and crowded warehouse on the outskirts of Anaheim. The ducks had responded to an alarm given by Drake One that teleportaion energy had been detected in this building. Sure enough, when they arrived in the Migrator, they found Siege, Wraith and Chameleon stealing boxes of electronics equipment. When the trio had seen the ducks they had spilt up, making it extra hard battle as all these tall packing crates were set up like a maze. This call had turned into a cat-and-mouse game.

Nosedive had found himself separated from the rest of the group and lost. There didn't seem to be a way out of this labyrinth. Coming to a corner, he slowly poked his head around the corner of the crate. Nothing. He made his way down slowly down between the rows. The sounds of blasting came fewer and farther between as each side searched for the other.

As he was about to turn another corner, the hairs on the back of Nosedive's neck stood straight up. He never got a chance to turn as suddenly everything went black.

Nosedive's eyes flickered open. Oh man, this had to be the worst headache he'd ever had. As his vision focused, he could make out the face of Wildwing, leaning over him.

"You feeling alright, bro?" A look of great concern was on his face.

"You catch the guy who dropped the Volkswagen on my head and I'll feel better." Nosedive said a bit groggily. Wildwing smiled.

"I see at least your sense of humor wasn't damaged. We'll be back at the pond in minute." As Wing said this, Dive realized he was on the floor of the Migrator.

He slowly rose to a sitting position and gingerly felt the large painful bruise forming on the back of his head.

"Looks like somebody doesn't like me." He said with a bit of a grimace as he looked at his hand to check for blood.

As Dive laid his head carefully down on his pillow, he quickly realized he was going to have to sleep on his side tonight. This bruise of his was rather tender. Dive was going to bed far earlier than he usually did, but he was dead tired and Tanya said some extra sleep would be good for healing. As he closed his eyes, he wondered for the fiftieth time that evening why whichever one of Dragonius' goons who had knocked him out hadn't gone and ahead and killed him.

__

The lighting in the Pond was dim and the place seemed like no had lived there for years. Cobwebs were everywhere. Dive slowly walked down the corridor. It was cold and he shivered. Where was everyone?

"Hello? Guys? Where are you?" he called out. He received no reply but the echo. He was starting to get scared.

Suddenly the doors at the end of the corridor opened. Out stepped Wildwing. Nosedive took a step towards him before something stopped him. 'Run.' Said a voice in his head. Dive quickly turned and started to sprint as fast he possibly could. He heard running footsteps behind him, getting closer and closer and closer and then a hand was on his shoulder and then…

Dive awoke with a gasp. After a few moments of terror, he realized that he'd been dreaming. He sighed. That had been some nightmare. He was breathing heavily, his heart was going a mile a minute, and there was a covering of cold sweat all over him.

He turned his head slightly and found the growing red numerals of his bedside clock. 5:30 AM. Oh well. He might as well get up, he really didn't feel like trying to go back to sleep.

As he dressed, he thought about the dream. He had never been able to remember nightmares, but this one was as clear as if it had actually happened. It was rather odd, too. Why was he running from Wildwing? After a few moments of pondering, Dive shook his head. It was only a stupid dream.

Dive walked into the empty kitchen. Wildwing and Mallory would have both been up at least a half-an-hour ago, but the rest probably wouldn't be up for another forty-five minutes. Dive grabbed a leftover ham sandwich from yesterday and a bottle of apple juice and walked toward the gym, eating as he went.

He had nearly finished as he went in. Mallory was working with the weights. She threw him a questioning 'you OK?' sort of glance at him after noticing him. Dive smiled, gave her a wink, and popped the last of the sandwich in his mouth.

"You feeling okay?" said a voice behind him. Dive turned…and froze. Terror seized him. He ran like mad out of the room.

Wildwing was extremely puzzled as he and Mallory jogged after Nosedive. When Dive had turned and saw him on treadmill in the corner, Dive's eyes had gotten as big as saucers and he'd gotten out of there quick as a flash. It was like he'd scared by something. But what? Both of them had thought it odd enough to go after him.

The two of them came to point were the corridor split. "You go left, I'll go right." Wildwing told Mallory, and they went their separate ways.

Mallory hadn't gone very far when she thought she heard something. She stopped by a storage closet and put your ear to the door. Yes, she could definitely hear a noise. She opened the door and stepped carefully inside.

There was Nosedive. The room had been pitch black, but she could see him by the stream of light coming through the doorway. Dive was sitting on the floor in a corner, his legs curled up to his chin. He was breathing so hard and fast, it sounded like he was nearly hyperventilating. He didn't seem to notice Mallory, and his eyes were unfocused.

Mallory walked over quietly and kneeled down next to him. "Dive? What's wrong?" she said in the tenderest voice she could muster.

It was a couple of moments before Dive seemed to hear her. He then gave a little jump and grabbed her by the shoulders.

"Mallory! I was certain it'd got you!" Before she could answer, he then saw the open doorway, leaped up, rushed over and shut it, plunging them both into darkness. There were a few quiet moments before Mallory spoke.

"Dive, what on Puckworld is going on?"

"We have to hide, Mallory, otherwise it will get us!" His voice was nearly hysterical. "It's probably already gotten the others! We could be the only ones left!" There was pause before he continued, slightly calmer. "How did you escape? I don't know how you could have possibly gotten away…." Dive's voice faded away.

The lights switched on. Mallory found herself looking down the barrel of Nosedive's puck launcher. The look in his eyes and his voice were both cold as he spoke. "Unless you're working together."

Suddenly the doors behind him opened. Nosedive swung around. Wildwing was standing there with a slightly puzzled look on his face.

Almost instantly, Dive's hands began to shake. The puck launcher clattered to the floor. Dive, eyes wide, shaking like a leaf, began to back slowly away from the doorway, but soon sped up so much he hit the wall with a crash.

"Nosedive? What's wrong?" Wildwing started toward his brother.

"NO! GO AWAY!" screamed Nosedive. He started to slide down the wall. Tears were streaming down his face. Mallory, standing unseen beside him, reached out a hand and lightly touched his shoulder.

Dive flinched and fell over sideways. He stared at her in utter terror.

"You're in it with him. All of you. You're all out to…" Before he could finish, his eyes rolled back and he fainted.

"It doesn't make sense. Why would Nosedive be terrified of his own brother?" asked Tanya, incredulously.

The group was gathered in the ready room, except Grin, who had volunteered to watch Nosedive in the infirmary.

"All I know is that the sight of me was enough to send him into a blind terror. He nearly shot Mallory because he thought she was 'working' with me." Said Wildwing wearily.

"Could it have something to with that bump he got yesterday? You know, jumble the works?" asked Duke.

"No, something of that sort we'd have seen some problems last night." Replied Tanya. "I would rather doubt that Dive could have received a psychological shock severe enough to cause him to fear Wildwing in the space of last night."

"Then what is it then?" asked an impatient Mallory.

"I suppose it might to possible to chemically alter the functioning of Nosedive's brain. But to implant a specific phobia in his head, that's something no one on Earth could do…" Tanya trailed off as she and everyone else in the room realized the ramifications of that last statement. **Dragaunus****.**

__

Nosedive was strapped securely to a table. The room he was in was hot and so stuffy he could barely breath. It was filled with a dark red light. Stream seemed to be coming out of cracks in the floor. He could see instruments of torture all around him. He was nearly out of his mind with fright.

The heavy wooden door to this hellish place swung open and in stepped Wildwing.

"Wildwing!" cried Nosedive joyously. "Quick, untie me!"

"Wildwing is dead." Replied the figure flatly. The voice sounded a lot like Wildwing, but it was much more sinister and cold. He walked over to side of table, staring at Dive. "And now all your little friends work for me!" He pulled off the Mask of Drake Ducaine and showed the face that was underneath. And Nosedive screamed.

Nosedive awoke with a start, but not with the unpleasantness of this morning. He kept his eyes closed as he thought. This time he was thankful for the dream. It showed him what he knew to be the truth. Wildwing was gone, replaced by that 'thing' and the rest of them now worked for it. All of them, plotting against him and the world. He had to stop them. Somehow.

He opened his eyes and found himself lying in a bed in the infirmary. A slight turn of his head and saw Grin, sitting in a chair next to the bed, staring at him.

"Welcome back to the world of the living, little one." he said softy. Through the terror started to grip him again, Nosedive gulped, held it in check, and decided to lie.

"Grin, what's going on? What am I doing here?"

"Do you not remember this morning?" replied Grin with one eyebrow raised.

"No, what happened?"

"Wildwing and Mallory say you had a…fit. You seemed terrified."

"Really? I don't remember a thing." Dive lowered his voice to a whisper. "Grin, could you come closer for a moment?"

Grin leaned forward and Dive's hand flew to his neck, quickly finding the nerve that Duke had showed him a few weeks before. He gave it a pinch and Grin fell out of his chair to the floor, unconscious.

Nosedive leaped out of the bed and rushed out of the infirmary. He had a plan, but he would have to hurry.

About ten minutes later, Tanya and Wildwing walked into the infirmary. Tanya had a theory about what was causing Nosedive's fear, but she would need some of his blood to prove it and work out a solution.

The two of them stopped in their tracks upon seeing Grin on the floor and Nosedive gone. They rushed over to Grin who was just coming to. He groaned and held his shoulder with one hand while using the other to lift himself up. His eyes looked straight into Wildwing's.

"Your brother is quicker than one would think."

Grin did not time to elaborate as suddenly the Pond's alarm system went off, blaring deafeningly. The three of them all rushed to Drake One.

Mallory and Duke were already there when they came in. Tanya began to quickly access the megacomputer, typing furiously.

"The main reactor is critical! The cooling system has been shut down! Ten minutes to a complete meltdown!"

"Can you turn the cooling back on?" asked Wildwing, trying to stay calm.

"No! Someone has set up a password on computerized reactor controls! I can break through it, but not in time we have! You would have to go down there and shut it down manually!"

"Let's go do it then!" Wildwing led the group as they ran out of the room.

****

To Be Continuted In Chapter Two…


	2. Synchronicity 1

Chapter Two: Synchronicity 1

Chapter Two: Synchronicity 1

__

If we share this nightmare 

Then we can dream 

Spiritus mundi 

If you act, as you think 

The missing link 

Synchronicity

A connecting principle 

Linked to the invisible 

Almost imperceptible 

Something inexpressible 

Science insusceptible 

Logic so inflexible 

Causally connectable 

Yet nothing is invincible

In the reactor enclosure, things were quiet. No alarms sounded, as one of the first things Dive had done was shut them off, right after he'd put the password on the controls. Those evenings fooling around on Drake One had paid off.

Nosedive sat in a chair, feet on the control console. His eyes were closed and a pair of earphones on his head, hooked up to his portable CD player. _Synchronicity I played loudly from them. He kept it a secret, but he was a fan of The Police. He usually listened to the alternative, but in his rare introspective moments, he preferred something a bit lighter._

As he sat there, he waited for his death. When the reactor melted down, there would be a massive explosion that would kill him instantly. Nosedive didn't want to die, but the fact that the same explosion would also kill the others as well was a consolation.

Over the music, he heard the doors open. He didn't move and heard the cry as one of them walked right into the forcefield he'd set up across the doorway. He'd picked a forcefield generator on his way here. It wouldn't kill you, but it hurt like hell and you couldn't get through.

"Nosedive!" a voice called out. Dive opened his eyes and turned his head so he could see the doorway. They were all there. The entire group, plus that thing that looked like Wildwing that they all now worked for.

"Nosedive, let us in! The reactor is about to blow!" The Wildwing thing had a pleading note in his voice. Nosedive smiled. He had them just where he wanted them. He got up and walked toward the doorway.

****

Wildwing stared at his brother as he came closer. His worries about Dive seemed much great than any about the impending disaster. The worries only got greater as Dive approached. Wildwing could hear him chuckling softly and the look in his eyes frightened him more than anything before in his life. It was the look of insanity.

Dive halted, his beak inches from the forcefield. 

"Bit worried are we? Well, when you gotta go, you gotta go." He giggled. "You are good, whoever you are. I don't know how you managed to turn all my friends against me and replace Wildwing in a single night, but you did it." Dive's voice grew harsh. "But you didn't count on me doing anything, did you? He's just a kid, he can't do anything. Well, I've just made your plans go *boom*!" Nosedive doubled over, laughing as if were the funniest thing he'd ever heard.

Wildwing was nearly dumbfounded. Nosedive thought he was an imposter! Suddenly, an idea popped in his head. 

"Of course I counted you on doing something." Wildwing was making his voice as sinister and harsh as he possibly could. "I counted you on walking right into my trap, which you obligingly did."

Nosedive looked up, a slightly fearful look on his face.

"What do you mean?"

"I mean that your friends aren't working for me. I'm controlling them. They're mindless slaves!"

Everyone else looked at Wildwing in surprise, then, realizing what he was trying to do, quickly looked away and tried to look as blank as possible. Wildwing continued.

"You're about to kill all of them, you fool!" He laughed as evilly as he could.

Nosedive's eyes widened and he rushed over to the reactor control panel. After a tense few seconds, an all-clear signal sounded. Everyone outside the room quietly let out a relieved sigh.

Nosedive spun around and began to quickly move toward the doorway. He drew his puck launcher and aimed it squarely at Wildwing.

"Forcefield off!"

There was a slight crackling sound as the forcefield generator shut down. Nosedive was only a few feet away when he fired. Wildwing only just managed to duck the puck, which harmlessly hit the wall. It was less than a second before the entire group was on Nosedive. He screamed and struggled with a strength fueled by a mixture of fear and madness. Mallory received a kick to the side of the face; Duke's hand got bitten. Tanya just was able to stick the hypodermic needle in his arm. Almost instantly, Dive fell unconscious.

****

Mallory, Duke, and Wildwing sat silently around the kitchen table. Mallory was holding an icebag against her developing black eye. Duke slowly sipped a cup of coffee with his good left hand, his bandaged right on resting on the table. Wildwing, his arms folded, stared blankly into space. All were waiting for some word from Tanya, who had been working alone in her lab for the past two hours, searching for a cure. Nosedive was back in the infirmary, hooked to an IV that gave him drugs to keep him knocked out. But, just to be safe, he was restrained and Grin was watching him.

All three turned as the door opened and Tanya's head poked in.

"Uh, Wildwing, could I please speak to you for moment please?" Wildwing slowly rose to his feet and followed Tanya out.

In her lab, Tanya held up a test tube with a small amount of blackish-blue liquid in it.

"I managed to filter this out of Nosedive's blood. It must have been injected into him during that firefight yesterday. It's thousands of microscopic nanites. Incredibly sophisticated. They managed to link the neurons in his brain that deal with his visual perception of you with some unconscious fears, most likely dealing with some person that left some deep psychological scar." Tanya's voice lowered. "In most people it would cause only great unease, but judging from Nosedive's reactions it must have someone…"

Tanya trailed off, not knowing how to phrase it. She left it to Wildwing to decide whether or not to elaborate on who it could be. Wildwing stared into the test tube. He knew who it was. McBill. The man who had been hired by their second set of foster parents, the Featheringstons, to watch them when they weren't around, which was pretty much every day. The man who had nearly beat Nosedive to death. Nosedive had always said he couldn't remember him, but apparently part of him did.

Wildwing sighed and rubbed his tried eyes. It was only about noon, but he felt like sleeping for a week.

"It's a long story." He told her the whole thing, leaving nothing out. When he finished, Tanya had a stricken look on her face, as if she had never imagined that anything like what she'd just heard could possibly happen. She was quiet for several moments. When she finally spoke, it was very softly.

"Most likely Nosedive suppressed those memories. The nanites found them and used them." She sighed. "But unfortunately, that was not the real reason I called you."

Wildwing mentally braced himself for what he knew was going to be very bad news.

"I can filter the nanites out of him right away. They were also stimulating some animal instincts in him which caused the paranoia, and that should go away, but…" She paused. "The damage has already been done. I cannot do anything about it. It's about fifty-fifty his mind will recover and he'll see things as they are or that…" She paused again, longer. "Or that he'll go completely insane at the sight of you."

Wildwing stood there silently for so long that Tanya began to wonder if he'd heard her. He slowly walked out the door without a word.

****

__

He was falling, falling, through the darkness. As he tumbled end over end, part of him knew he would fall forever. Images flashed before his eyes, seemly randomly. There was Canard, the skating ring on Puckword he'd always used, Captain Comics, Mallory, it went on endlessly. And he kept falling.

****

There were voices that he couldn't make out. Some fuzzy shapes moving in front of his vision. Then blackness claimed him again.

****

__

He was in a white walled room. Lying on a bed, he wondered hazily, 'Is this the infirmary?' No, it couldn't be. It was some sort of hospital. He could hear the beep, beep, beep of the heart monitor. And he could feel the pain. Intense, stabbing pain.

****

The voices again. Clearer, but he still couldn't make out what they were saying. His vision was a bit better, too. Was the Mallory?

****

__

The room was dark. He was lying on floor. He couldn't move. A dark figure towered over him. He felt the blow, but didn't seem to feel the pain. His mouth tasted coppery. Blood. As the darkness started to spread from the corners of eyes, he caught a glimpse of Wildwing kicking the figure over him. Wildwing. His brother. Protecting him.

****

Nosedive eyes slowly opened. He was surrounded. Mallory, Tanya, Duke, and Grin were in a circle around his bed. He groaned slightly as he tried to move. He had a moment of surprise as he realized he was restrained, but was too weak to really care. His month tasted like sandpaper. Dive's eyes moved slowly person to person there. They all seemed to be waiting for him to say something.

"I am dead? Cause you guys look like you're at a funeral." He finally said weakly. Duke smiled, the others looked relieved.

"Thought we going to lose you, buddy boy." said Duke softy.

Dive started to mentally take stock of himself. All major limbs seemed to be still attached. No broken bones he could feel. His hand went to the back of his head. The bruise was still there, but much smaller.

"Gee, **Dragaunus' goons much have knocked me harder than I thought. I been out long?"**

His four friends all looked at each other. After a pause, Tanya spoke.

"About three days. It's Friday." She stopped for moment, searching for right words. "Do you, uh, remember Tuesday at all?"

Dive looked puzzled.

"Wasn't I out of it?"

"Only that afternoon. Do you remember the morning at all?"

Nosedive thought about it for a silent couple of minutes. He had some vague idea that something had happened, but nothing very clear. He had a picture of the reactor, but what that had to do with anything he didn't…suddenly like a rubber band snapping, the memories flooded back to him.

Dive gasped. These people around him they were his enemies, and he must…wait a minute. These were his friends. Why would he ever be afraid of them? As he began to recall what had happened, a growing sense of horror filled him.

"Oh my god." He whispered. "What the hell was I doing?"

"It wasn't your fault, kid." Duke had been the closest to Dive and was probably the only one who heard him. "Dragaunus injected you with some stuff that played with mind."

"Where's Wildwing?" Dive said quickly.

The others looked distinctly uncomfortable.

"Uh, kid, he thought it would best if he stayed away."

"Why on Puckworld would he think that?"

"Well, uh, it's like this…" Tanya seemed to struggling for words. "The problem was caused by linking your worst fears to Wildwing. For you to, uh, see him again might be…bad."

"How bad?"

Tanya had an extremely pained look on her face as she replied. "The, uh, behavior you exhibited might, well, become permanent."

Nosedive was silent for nearly a minute. No one spoke for they could all see he was trying hard to cope with the news. 

"Bring him here." He finally said, very quietly.

"Nosedive…" Mallory was going to try to talk him out of it but was stopped by a withering glance from him. She shut up.

"Send for him." Nosedive said with much more force. He turned to Tanya. "Have a hypodermic ready. And don't fill it with sedative." Tanya blanched as she realized what Dive was saying. If he was to permanently lose his senses, he didn't want to live. She slowly moved to follow his request.

"I'll be right back." Said Duke so quiet that they could barely hear him. He went out the doors to get Wildwing.

****

Wildwing was in ready room, staring at the picture on the giant screen of Drake One. He'd been watching everything that had happened through the infirmary surveillance camera. Tears ran down his checks. Nosedive has been the first to say out loud what Wildwing had been thinking all week. Life without the other seemed to not be worth the effort. He cursed himself for not having the courage to do what Nosedive was planning to do himself.

He heard the _psss_ of the doors opening. Wildwing didn't bother to turn his head. He knew it was Duke.

"Go back and tell the others to leave." Wildwing said tonelessly. "Have Tanya leave the syringe on that table by the doorway. If someone has to do it, it will be me."

Duke left to do his job without a word. There was nothing to say.

****

The lights in the infirmary were low. Nosedive was lying back, eyes closed. He was doing his best to enjoy what might be his last moments of sanity and life. It didn't seem to work. All he could think of was the fact that Wildwing intended to take the responsibility for his death. That had become crystal clear when the others had left, muttering rather hollow sounding words of goodbye.

****

Wildwing watched on the monitor his friends leaving. He got up and walked out of the ready room. Walking through the corridors, he coldly thought about strategy for next week's game against the Detroit Crankshafts. Right now he didn't care if he ever won another hockey game in his life, but he had to keep his mind occupied. He couldn't let his emotions take over just yet. He would need his wits if he had to do the worst.

Wildwing stood in front of the doors to the infirmary. He took a deep breath and opened them.

Nosedive was there, on the closest bed. His eyes were closed, but from his breathing it was obvious he was awake and alert. Wildwing's eyes drifted to the syringe. The liquid in side was colorless and there wasn't much of it. Whatever Tanya had put in it must be powerful. Painless, too, for she wouldn't have chosen anything that wasn't. He was musing over this when Dive began to speak.

"I remember now. Must have been blocking the whole thing out all these years. I remember McBill and how he made our lives miserable. I remember that night he nearly killed me." Nosedive paused, fighting back the tears. "And how you saved me. The recovery in the hospital, everything." He paused again and his voice dropped an octive. "I just want to thank you for that and for being my brother. Now pick up the needle, because I'm about to open my eyes."

Nosedive waited till he heard the sounds of his brother picking up the deadly syringe. He opened his eyes and turned his head so he was looking directly into Wildwing's eyes.

Sudden pain hit him like a wave. It felt like a knife stuck directly into his temple, but he forced himself to keep his eyes open and on Wildwing. He could feel himself start to shake. His vision seemed waver, first he saw Wildwing, then McBill, then back again, again and again. His mind felt on fire. He felt, rather than heard, his cries of pain.

****

Wildwing desperately wanted to go over to his brother, but the eyes stopped him. Locked, staring stright into his own like daggers. He couldn't move, the eyes might lose him. And part of him believed it was the only Dive had to hold on to.

****

Dive was certain he couldn't hold on much longer. The pain was more than he could bear. Every second was pure torture. Yet, he kept his eyes locked on Wildwing.

A sudden bright flash blinded him and his head fell back. It was a full two minutes before his eyes slowly opened. He found himself staring straight up into the eyes of Wildwing, whose face was less than foot away from his.

"You really ought to keep the mask on. It covers up that ugly mug of yours." Dive weakly croaked out.

He heard the clatter of the syringe as it hit the floor and then Wildwing's arms closed around him, hugging him so tight he could hardly breathe.

"I thought I'd lost you." He choked through the tears.

"I thought I'd already lost you." Nosedive quietly replied through tears of his own.

**** 

It was nearly a week before Nosedive felt completely normal. For awhile he jumped at every single little noise. Mallory coming up behind him one day nearly scared him out of his skin. He had a few lapses in time he couldn't quite account for. The evening after him awaking up, the whole group gathered in the darkened rec room to watch a movie. He remembered the first few minutes of the film, then suddenly the lights were on and Wildwing was shaking him.

"Hey, Dive! Are you alright?" he was asking worriedly.

"I'm fine. Why'd you stop the flick, man?"

Wildwing's look became even more worried. 

"The film ended five minutes ago. You've just been sitting there, staring into space."

"Oh." Pause. "Was it a happy ending?"

Wildwing smiled slightly.

"Yeah. The hero got the girl and the villain got blown up."

"A bit predictable."

"You're right. Very predictable."

Happily, these lapses only happened a couple of times and then disappeared. The entire time he recovered, Wildwing didn't leave his side for a moment. At points, Dive felt like he had a Siamese twin. But he didn't mind a bit.

****

Three weeks after the whole incident, Wildwing went into his quarters for a moment to pick up a book he'd been reading. There was some sort of official-looking document laying on his table. He picked it up and began to read.

The Last Will And Testament Of Nosedive McDrake

I, NOSEDIVE MCDRAKE, being of sound **mind and memory****, ****do make, publish and declare this to be my Last Will and Testament.**

FIRST: (a) I give and bequeath to GRIN BLITHE, should he survive me, nothing, as he asked me not to give him anything.

(b) I give and bequeath to TANYA DRAKEMAN, should she survive me, all my computer games and my stereo system. 

(c) I give and bequeath to DUKE L'ORANGE, should he survive me, my hockey equipment and my comic collection.

(d) I give and bequeath to MALLORY MCMALLARD, should she survive me, my compact disc collection and my VCR tapes.

SECOND: I give, devise and bequeath all remaining property of which I die possessed, both real and personal, wheresoever it may be, unto my brother, WILDWING MCDRAKE, for him to have and to use as he may see fit for his best interest.

THIRD: I hereby nominate, constitute and appoint my brother WILDWING MCDRAKE as Executor of this, my last will and testament,

IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand and seal this 23rd day of March 1997 A.D.

/s/ Nosedive McDrake

Signed, sealed, published and declared as and for his last will and testament, by Nosedive McDrake in the presence of us, present at the same time, who, at his request, in his presence and in the presence and in the presence of each other, have hereunto subscribed our names as witnesses the day and year last above set forth.

/s/ Duke l'Orange ADDRESS 2695 East Katella Ave., Anaheim, CA 92806

/s/ Grin Blithe ADDRESS 2695 East Katella Ave., Anaheim, CA 92806

Wildwing put down the paper, speechless. The fact that the teenager had come so close to death that thought he needed a will disturbed him slightly, but he couldn't help but be touched by the gesture. He noticed that he'd gotten Duke and Grin to witness the thing; the two must likely to keep a secret. Still, he figured he and Dive ought to have a talk.

He was brought out of his thoughts by the sound of Drake One's alarm. He jogged off toward to ready room, off to fight Dragaunus again. All of them, together.

****

The End


End file.
